the guest book…

14-09-15

Generally, it’s a quaint little book that sits on a quiet little table at the reception entrance with an unusually beautiful pen for people to write messages. This alone is enough to leave people mumbling, bumbling and head scratching as to what to write. I confess to potentially making many an ass of myself out of guestbook entries (there’s no delete button and never any white-out on hand, what’s a girl to do?). Let’s be honest, there are few who are particularly eloquent off the cuff after a few Champagnes.

So let’s steer away from the traditional, the standard and the general (we like to do that at I Do in a Day). What else can you use to create a fond reminder of the lovely people that attended your big day; the ladies that fought so bravely for the bouquet, that random out of towner cousin who burst into tears at every speech, and your quietly spoken uncle who decided to own the dance floor when Footloose came on. I hope these next few left-of-centre suggestions inspire you in some way...

Jenga!

As long as your guest book table is somewhere safe from dance spins and champagne corks, a Jenga block guest tower is a groovy keepsake to substitute a guest book! Buy the plain wooden blocks and provide felt-tip pens for your guests to write messages on the sides. Lay the blocks on the table with instructions to “write-and-build” the wedding guest jenga tower. Just be prepared for one or two mini-catastrophes through the course of the night...

Guest Table

Instead of having a book on a table, why not eliminate the book from the equation all together? A wooden guest table is a great way to preserve those well wishes into a unique piece of decor for your home. You could even use a nice wooden deck chair, or a coffee table. Just provide a fine tipped permanent marker for you guests. Varnish after if you so wish!

Keys to a happy marriage

Take this rare opportunity to gain advice from your experienced friends and family with this little idea. Purchase a bowl full of vintage keys and tie paper label tags to them with strings. Guests can write a few lines of advice for marriage on their tag, sign the back and hang it on a decorative board for you to read later. Who knows, there might be a gem of wisdom in there that’ll come in handy down the track...

Say “cheese”!

Steering away from writing altogether, a polaroid book allows you to literally capture the moment! Leave a blank note book or photo book open next to a polaroid camera with plenty of film. Guests can take individual portraits or couple shots and stick in their photo. Who said wedding photography was expensive?

Sign the world

For the couple who are travellers at heart! To inspire the adventures that the future holds, ask your guests to sign a world globe or a world map. A world globe with personal messages written all over it will make an awesome piece for any home. They can pick locations that mean something to them, and even mark places for you to visit!

Like some of these quirky suggestions? Contact our I Do in a Day team for even more! We’ll be happy to think of something unique to preserve all those messages from your amazing wedding day!